Just an update. Doc visit # 4 in 3 months. I am to wean off pred. 10- 5555555-2.5 2.5.2.5 2.5. I am to note length of morning stiffness and any pain and location of pain. He said he didn't think that the side effects ( Increased BP, jittery) that I am having was caused by Pred at such a low dose. I am very sensitive to meds. so I Think he is wrong. Still no DX or Planned TX. He wants me to return in 3 weeks. He said if I need to I can stay on the Pred. if I have Increase symptoms when weaninig off. I guess will see what happens.QUESTIONHOW LONG DID IT TAKE TO GET AN DX ONCE YOU STARTED GOING TO A RHEUMATOLOGIST? I had high sed rate and CRP initially. fused cerviical spine and other painfull joints.NanMac

It took me almost 2 years for a firm Dx from a rheumy since I am sero-negative and all of my labs come out negative though I did have the obvious symptoms. He said that many people just suddenly get better within 2 years.

Hey there NanMac.. If I were you, I'd go for a 2nd opinion.. this is too long (in my opinion) On my first visit with my rheumy, even before the bloodwork, I was diagnosed within 10 minutes... He started me on Enbrel and I have been a lot better since.. Can you see someone else?Moderator of Arthritis Forum

I have insurance and can get a second opinion. It takes 3 months to get an appt. with a Rheumy in this area so I have been hanging in there. I have noticed that many people seem to be on Pred. in additoin to other meds to control their symptoms. I am probably going to decline taking Pred. again due to side effects. I would love to hear about other peoples experiences with Rheumatologists. I feel if I push him he will discount me as a hypocondriac. Nancy

I have crohns and there for along time we passed my joint pain off to the crohns.From the time I started complaining about my joint's to the time I was sent to a Rheumatolagist it was right at a year.I got a double wammy not only was I diagnsed with RA I was also told that I have OA and AS as well.I was on high doese of prednisone to start with for the crohns and while it did help with that it did not do much for my joint's at all.Infact while I was on prednisone it was causing me to have lung issues and there for I know longer take prednisone for any thing.I agree with Ducky get another opinion,one thing for sure it can't hurt can it.Please let us know what you find out.Curley

Sorry your visit didn't go better. To answer your first question, I have been going to my rheumy for over a year and a half, and I still do not have a formal diagnosis of RA. I also had my appointment last week, and I was on pred and did not get another prescription for anymore :( I have read on here where some take quite high doses and told my doctor that I had a few days where I didn't take any of my pred and some days where I took 20 to 25 mg, and he wasn't happy about that at all! Needless to say, I cannot be trusted with a prescription for prednisone and he said if I am needing to take THAT much of it, we need to move on to something else. I told him all I wanted was something that worked like pred, thats it! It really is a simple request right?? Not in the world of RA, I guess.

I left with a prescription for the dreaded methotrexate, that I have been putting off, because it just sounds scary, and I didn't think I would get to this point, since without a diagnosis of RA, I thought whatever was causing this inflammation would go away at some point. Although, I don't have a positive test, my doctors says you can still have RA, so with your doctor should be treating your symptoms.

Have you been given plaquenil? or any of the other meds to try? When I first started out, we went through all of the NSAIDs first, and I went every 3 months, and they just were not working for me. After that and a year later, my pain increased much more and I then started the plaquenil, and have gone from there...My doctor started out slowly and now he is getting more aggressive, especially when I ended up in urgent care because I was really hurting.

If you can get another opinion, you should. For my doctor, he doesn't dole out pred very often and only when it is really needed!